Fuchsiaxc3x97hybrida cultivar xe2x80x98Marciaxe2x80x99.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Fuchsia plant, botanically known as Fuchsiaxc3x97hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Marciaxe2x80x99.
The new Fuchsia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Hebrechtingen, Germany. The objective of the breeding program was to create new freely flowering Fuchsia cultivars with compact plant habit and numerous attractive flowers.
The new Fuchsia originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor of a proprietary selection Fuchsiaxc3x97hybrida identified as code number 85/94, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unidentified proprietary Fuchsiaxc3x97hybrida selection, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Marcia was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Hebrechtingen, Germany.
Asexual reproduction of the new Fuchsia by terminal cuttings taken at Hebrechtingen, Germany has shown that the unique features of this new Fuchsia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Marcia has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and daylength, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Marciaxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Marciaxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Fuchsia cultivar:
1. Upright and cascading plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit; dense and full plant growth habit.
3. Numerous red purple and purple-colored flowers.
Sepal and petal colors of plants of the new Fuchsia are more intense than sepal and petal colors of plants of the female parent. In addition, plants of the new Fuchsia flower earlier than plants of the female parent. Plants of the new Fuchsia differ primarily from plants of the male parent in flower coloration.
Plants of the new Fuchsia can be compared to the cultivar Lucy, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Hebrechtingen, Germany, plants of the new Fuchsia were more upright than plants of the cultivar Lucy and differed in petal coloration.